Mama knows best!
We had a new mother on our farm on Mothers Day this year. So now we have a new little heifer scampering around the pasture. It is truly amazing to see how the cattle go through different stages of life and know exactly what is going on out of instinct. When humans go through child birth we are told exactly what will happen, what we need to do to prepare, and amazingly we still freak out
! Cattle on the other hand have amazing insite to the whole process without our help. This particular birth was done completely by the first calf heifer which is what us farmers like to see! She had no trouble and even though my dad was there keeping a close eye on her, she was able to have the baby completely on her own.
I got home in time to see her trying to stand and being a little shaky on her feet. The funniest part of the process is watching the calf trying to stand and walk on their own and get used to their new legs. Several times a small lick from the proud mama would knock the calf right over, and not very gracefully I might add. Then the thing that really fascinates me started. The calf started looking for milk…they just know what to do! She knew that she needed that colostrum to grow strong
and healthy! Now at first she was trying to find it in the brisket which as you can imagine wasn’t very successful. Then she made her way back, after several encouraging nudges from mom, to the utter. Another thing that was interesting was the mom getting the calf to walk. The calf would get up and clumsily make her way over to her and then mama would back up a few steps to push her a little further. Mama knows what she’s doing.
The baby has been spending a lot of time sleeping which proved difficult for my other role as photographer today. She was nowhere to be found in the tall grass and mama was very proud. I’m pretty sure she was laughing at me while I walked around the pasture trying to find the baby.
I am ready for the running stage! They are so cute with their tails straight up in the air running through the pasture. But for now she will be looked over by her mom and will be taught the lessons of life in an unspoken language. Animals are truly amazing creatures!
RB

moment and really appreciate the value of a simple piece of “dirt”. “Dirt” or soil as most of us agricultural farmers and ranchers like to call it is the origin at which all life stems from. Our food is grown within, buildings are built upon it, it’s a natural air conditioner for the earth, and we are essential comprised of the very beings of this soil. Our beloved BEEF is one of those beings that depends on the quality of soil in order to produce a nice delicious and juicy steak. We as human beings cannot break down cellulose, a major building block in many plants.. Our bodies are just not designed to eat bland foods (: ! So we’ve worked out a deal with the thousands of cattle across the nation and for an exchange of free roaming privileges in our nation’s finest fields we’ve asked cattle to use their super complex stomach to break down the cellulose that our mere human bodies just can’t seem to digest like glucose.





